


Raising and Growing

by Vidriana



Series: Talented [2]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Magical Realism, Pining, Team Feels
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-22
Updated: 2017-06-22
Packaged: 2018-11-16 07:13:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11248911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vidriana/pseuds/Vidriana
Summary: “I just don’t think they should bother him, if he doesn’t wanna tell them,” Mo finishes and Jake feels a deep, warm feeling of fondness rising up in his chest. He looks back over where Willy is now pulling his jersey over his head, not looking perturbed in the slightest.“Nah, it’s gonna be fine,” Jake says, elbowing Mo in the side lightly to make him look over. “But I can help you keep an eye on the kids anyway, if you want,” he offers, just to make Mo smile, a small but genuine expression that makes Jake’s heart hurt a little.





	Raising and Growing

**Author's Note:**

  * For [frecklebombfic (frecklebomb)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/frecklebomb/gifts).



> Happy Birthday to you, Dell! I wrote you something soft and fluffy and a bit magical to celebrate the day and I hope you enjoy it!
> 
> Special thanks to Julija for beta reading and all the lovely compliments!

“Ow!” Mitch exclaims loudly, flinching back and making Jake look up from where he’s putting on his skates. He waves his hand around in the air, before sticking his burned finger into his mouth. “Fuck, that hurt,” he says, the words muffled, and Willy laughs at him. Auston looks slightly guilty when he extinguishes the little flame burning in his palm, but Willy just gives him a playful shove.

“Come on, don’t look like that! He asked for it,” Willy says, rolling his eyes, but the expression on Auston’s face is still uneasy as he slips his inhibitor back on, pulling the stretchy band over his hand until it sits tight around his wrist again. 

“Sorry, Marns,” he says, sounding apologetic, but Mitch just shrugs.

“Nah, Willy’s right, I asked you to show me,” he says, before pointedly looking down at the inhibitor circling Willy’s wrist. “So what’s your thing?” Willy smiles at him, but Jake thinks it looks kind of forced.

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” he says airily and turns away from them, walking back to his stall to put on his gear. The look on Mitch’s face is a bit dumbstruck and he exchanges a questioning look with Auston, before apparently deciding to drop it. 

Next to Jake, Mo exhales audibly, making Jake turn towards him. “Everything okay?” he asks and Mo nods, even though his face looks tight, his brows drawn together uncharacteristically. “You sure?” Jake insists, as Mo gives him a tight smile in response.

“Yeah, just— you know,” he gestures to over to Mitch and Auston who still look puzzled at Willy’s behavior. “I’m just worried that’s gonna be a problem.” Jake almost drops the shin guards he’d been putting on in surprise.

“You, uh, you think their talents are gonna be a problem?” he clarifies, just to be sure and Mo gives him a confused look.

“What? No. I just—” he breaks off and if Jake wasn’t so busy being relieved that Mo apparently isn’t one of those weird anti-gifted people he’d heard about, he would be wondering why Mo was starting to turn red. “I just don’t think they should bother him, if he doesn’t wanna tell them,” Mo finishes and Jake feels a deep, warm feeling of fondness rising up in his chest. He looks back over where Willy is now pulling his jersey over his head, not looking perturbed in the slightest.

“Nah, it’s gonna be fine,” Jake says, elbowing Mo in the side lightly to make him look over. “But I can help you keep an eye on the kids anyway, if you want,” he offers, just to make Mo smile, a small but genuine expression that makes Jake’s heart hurt a little.

“Thanks, Jake,” he says sincerely and then he gets up and walks away, saving Jake from having to come up with a response.

————— 

Mo doesn’t like driving in Toronto. Jake doesn’t either, but why should they both suffer when they live so close to each other? They decided to take turns at the beginning of the season, but somehow Jake ends up driving most of the time. He doesn’t really mind all that much.

It’s not like Jake had expected Mo to be a complete disaster at living alone, but he still can’t help being a bit surprised every time he steps into Mo’s new apartment. It looks warm and inviting and comfortable, more so than their shared apartment ever had. Jake always tries to suppress the jealousy that wells up in him at the thought. He’s not always that successful.

“Oh, hey, sorry I’m— eh, come in,” Mo says as he opens the door this time. He has a tie hanging loosely round his neck and his shirt isn’t all the way buttoned up yet. Jake quickly averts his gaze. “Sorry, I kinda forgot when you were picking me up,” Mo says sheepishly. 

“Don’t worry, about it. Just hurry up,” Jake says good naturedly and Mo rushes off, presumably to the nearest mirror to fix his tie. Jake takes the time to look around a bit. He and some of the others come over pretty frequently, but he hasn’t been here alone before, without Mo to draw his attention, and he somehow feels like the room looks different. 

It takes him a while to figure out what it is. His gaze drifts over the mess of controllers and cables in front of Mo’s couch, to the half-full bowl of fruit on his kitchen island, over to the cactus that Jake had gotten him as a joke present when he’d first moved in. It’s blooming now with small, vibrant, red petals and Jake didn’t even know cacti could do that, so he’s suitably impressed. 

He takes in the pictures lining Mo’s walls, mostly photos of him and his family, or him and his team. Jake’s chest feels warm when he notes that he’s in almost all of the team pictures and that there’s even a few of just the two of them together. Then he looks over to Mo’s dining table, to the neat placemats and a scattering of papers and pens surrounding a vase of soft white flowers with long stems. 

Jake has no idea what kind they are, but they’re...nice. Pretty. Also absolutely not a thing Mo had ever bought when they’d lived together. 

“Hey, you ready?” a voice behind him says and Jake is ripped out of his trance to find a still slightly frazzled Mo standing there, holding his keys in one hand and his phone in the other.

“Uh, yeah, sure. Let’s go,” Jake says hastily, shaking his head a bit. They have a game today, he should be focusing on that, not on...whatever this could mean. Maybe Mo likes flowers now, who knows. 

“So, was your mom in town recently?” he asks while they’re waiting at a red light. Mo just gives him a confused look.

“What? No. My parents are in Vancouver,” is what he says and Jake can feel himself blushing. He tries to shrug it off.

“I just figured, you know, with you living alone now and stuff, maybe they’d come over more often,” he says and now Mo just looks irritated. 

“I’m capable of living on my own, thanks,” he says and that isn’t what Jake had meant at all.

“I didn’t— I mean, I know, just…” he trails off and thankfully the light turns green in that moment. He might step on the gas pedal a bit harder than he should and the car lurches forward, pressing Mo back into his seat. “Sorry,” Jake says and isn’t sure which part he’s apologizing for. 

Mo just gives him a strange look and then thankfully starts fiddling with the radio, probably more for something to do with his hands than to actually look for a new station. Jake is just glad he doesn’t have to talk anymore and hates it at the same time. He’d thought this would get easier when they didn’t live together anymore, but apparently that’s not the case. Sometimes he feels like they’re drifting apart and he doesn’t know how to change it. 

He’s shakes himself out of his thoughts when they get to the Air Canada Center. They have a game to play and just because Mo’s apparently happier on his own doesn’t mean he’s not Jake’s friend anymore. 

Still, Jake can’t help feeling like he might have lost something.

————— 

“Okay, seriously, you know you don’t have to wear that thing all the time, right?” Brownie sounds slightly exasperated as he says it, pointing at the inhibitor around Willy’s wrist, but Willy just shrugs.

“I know,” is apparently all he has to say on the topic, because he steals Brownie’s puck and kickstarts a game of keepaway as Brownie follows him with an affronted squawk. Jake can’t help but grin at their antics when Auston steals the puck from Willy and the little game somehow dissolves into Brownie, Mitch and Willy attempting to get it back. 

It gets brought up again later though, when they’ve all showered. 

“Seriously, it’s only mandated when you’re on the ice, you know?” Mitch says. Willy just shrugs, so Mitch adds, “Matts always takes his off after we’re done with practice,” with a glance over to where Auston is fumbling his way into his t shirt. “Why don’t you?”

“I just don’t want to be accused of cheating,” Willy says, much more nonchalant than Jake would have expected, while he’s pulling on his pants. 

“Cheating at what?” Mitch just asks, obviously confused and Willy grins at him.

“Life,” he simply says and then he walks out, his hair still wet and messy, leaving Mitch to stare after him incredulously. 

“What does that even mean?” Mitch asks the locker room at large, but before anyone can answer Mo throws a towel at him.

“Maybe you should stop worrying about that and get dressed or Matts is gonna leave you behind,” Mo says with a grin, and Jake would have absolutely bought it, if he couldn’t see the tension in his shoulders. He wants to put his hand there, give Mo some comfort and reassurance, but Mo just has a towel wrapped around his waist and isn’t wearing a shirt and it just...doesn’t feel appropriate. 

“Hey, you’re just as slow as I am,” Mitch accuses, pointing at Mo’s state of undress, but Mo just shrugs and grins at him.

“Yeah, but Jake would never leave me behind,” he says, sounding so sure that Jake feels a rush of warmth go through his whole body. He can’t help but smile when Mo looks at him.

“Sure thing, buddy, I’ve got your back.”

————— 

They don’t go out all that often during the season, but they don’t manage to beat Nashville 6-2 all that often either so Jake’s happy they decided to make an exception. He sets down the two pitchers of beer on the middle of the table before dropping down in his regular spot by Mo’s side.It’s only then that he notices how tense Mo is. 

“No, seriously, why do you think he never takes it off?” Mitch asks, waving his glass in the direction of the table that Willy, Zach and Sosh are sitting at, doing shots of something green and toxic looking that Jake doesn’t want anywhere near him. Auston looks thoughtful.

“Maybe it’s dangerous or something,” he suggests. “I mean, I was a bit scared that I’d hurt someone when I first figured out the fire thing.” He takes a sip of his beer while Mitch looks at him with wide eyes.

“Did you ever— I mean, how did you, uh...” Mitch trails off, seeming to realize there isn’t actually a tactful way to ask Auston if he’d ever accidentally set anything on fire. Or anyone. Auston just looks amused though.

“I singed the hair of my little sister’s favourite doll when I was ten and she didn’t want to come out to play with me,” he says, looking a bit sheepish at the memory. “I didn’t do it on purpose or anything, but that’s how we found out I had a talent. My mom made me wear an inhibitor for a couple of months until we were sure I could control it at any time.” 

“They let a ten year old with fire powers run around without an inhibitor?” Mitch asks incredulously, but Auston just laughs. 

“It’s only a level two talent. I can’t really do anything besides a small flame in my palm, and that isn’t even that hot.” Mitch still looks sceptical, until Auston adds, “It’s basically like always having a lighter with me.”

“That’s fair, I guess,” Mitch admits and glances back over to Willy, who’s now staring down at his phone. “Do you think his thing is dangerous then? Like, dangerous enough that he’s not allowed to take his inhibitor off?” This time it’s Brownie who weighs in.

“Nah, if it’s that dangerous he’d have an officially issued inhibitor that he can’t take off. I’ve seen them before and they look different,” he says, drawing the attention of everyone at the table. 

“You know someone with a level five talent?” Naz asks skeptically and Brownie just shrugs.

“I dunno if it was really level five, but he could do some kind of electroshock thing, it was pretty freaky,” he says, sounding a bit uncomfortable and Mitch elbows Auston in the side.

“Your tiny flame is so lame in comparison,” he says with a smirk and Auston elbows him back.

“You know, most talents aren’t really that flashy,” Freddie chimes in from where he’s sitting next to Mo. “A friend of mine can hold his breath underwater for longer than usual.” Mitch stares at him.

“That’s not— How would even know that’s a talent? I mean, what if he just has a really big lung capacity?” he asks and Freddie just smiles.

“Because he can’t do it when he’s wearing an inhibitor. That’s usually how most people figure it out.” He takes grabs one of the pitchers and starts refilling his beer. 

“I don’t think I’ve ever met someone with a talent before,” Mitch says thoughtfully. Mo laugh and maybe it’s the amount of beer he’s already had, but it sounds a bit hysterical to Jake. 

“Of course you have,” Mo says and takes a last gulp of his beer before also refilling his glass. “You probably just don’t know it. It’s not exactly something you tell just anyone,” he continues, before taking another sip.

“Why not?” Mitch asks. “A talent’s pretty cool, isn’t it? I’d definitely show mine off if I had one.”

“Some people think it’s weird though,” Freddie muses. “And we all just admitted stuff like the electric shocks freak us out too.”

Mitch seems to consider that for a moment. “Yeah, okay, I guess you’d need to really trust someone to tell them, right?” he says and Mo twitches next to Jake. Jake turns to look at him, but Mo is intently staring down at the blotchy, wooden surface of the table and doesn’t acknowledge him.

“You okay?” he asks, but Mo just nods hastily and takes another big gulp of his beer so Jake drops it. Still, he can’t help but feel a bit uneasy, because if Jake didn’t know any better he’d think— but that’s not really possible. Just to be sure, he glances down at Mo’s wrists, trying to be inconspicuous, but obviously there’s no sign of an inhibitor there. He shakes his head. 

He’s definitely just reading this wrong. They’d lived together for two years and Mo would have told him.

Later, when they’re sitting in the back of a cab together, Mo sighs and leans against Jake’s side, his head dropping on Jake’s shoulder. He must be more drunk than Jake had originally thought and he tries really hard not to focus too much on the comfortable warmth of Mo’s weight against his side. Mo’s always been an affectionate guy. This probably doesn’t mean anything.

“You know I trust you, right?” Mo says suddenly, so close that Jake can feel his breath on his neck and sounding a lot more sober than Jake had expected. Jake doesn’t know what to do, doesn’t know how to act, because this is awfully similar to a bunch of scenarios he’d dreamed up over the years. 

Of course then Mo ruins it by saying, “You’re my best friend, you know,” sounding so sincere and Jake feel a bitter sting of disappointment in his stomach. He tries to muster a smile anyway.

“Yeah, buddy, I know,” he says and can’t quite shake the feeling that he’s missing something.

————— 

Jake is just about to finish up his session on the stationary bike when he notices the commotion and takes off his headphones. 

Of course, it’s the rookies, because it’s always the rookies. They’d been playing a game of two touch just moments before, and they’re now arguing loudly and pointing upwards. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what happened.

“Come on, you kicked it up there, you gotta get it down,” Auston says, pushing Mitch’s shoulder lightly.

“How am I gonna do that?” Mitch asks, bewildered. “Do we have a ladder or something?” 

“I’m sure we could find a janitor. They usually have one somewhere,” Zach suggests, but no seems to be in the mood to go and look for a janitor so his suggestion gets ignored.

“You know, if you have some secret levitation powers or something, now would be a great time to reveal them,” Brownie says with a significant look at Willy, who just rolls his eyes.

“I don’t, but that’s not necessary anyway. Help me up, Matts,” he says and Auston obediently holds out his folded hands to give him a boost up. With Zach’s help Willy somehow manages to climb up on Auston’s shoulders as Mitch and Brownie look on skeptically. It takes a couple of attempts, but finally Willy can grab the lighting fixture their ball is presumably stuck on and manages to pulling himself up so that his upper body disappears from Jake’s line of sight.

“You okay?” Auston asks, looking up where Willy is now dangling quite a number of feet off the floor. He holds out his arms like he wants to catch Willy in case he slips, which Jake personally thinks is a horrible idea. They really can’t afford to have both of them out with injuries.

“Yeah, fine, I just gotta…” Willy mumbles, probably mostly to himself and then there’s a triumphant yell and the ball bounces on the floor a couple of time before Mitch grabs it. Jake has to smile as he gets off his bike and heads over to them. 

Then Willy drops to the floor as well with a loud, “Fuck!” and everyone freezes.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Zach says, leaning down to him, but Willy’s already standing up again, grimacing. 

“Yeah, fine, just— ,” he breaks off and clutches his wrist. “It must have gotten caught or something.” Zach’s eyes get wide and he backs off immediately like Willy might suddenly combust or burst into flames. And for all they know that’s exactly what could happen, Jake realizes with a start. Willy’s inhibitor is gone, probably pulled off somehow when he’d tried to get the ball.

“Hey, Matts can he borrow yours?” Zach asks, thinking quickly, but Auston shakes his head apologetically.

“I only bring one when we have on-ice stuff, sorry,” he says and looks at Jake like he’d have some idea what to do. Honestly, Jake is just as lost as they are. 

Willy rolls his eyes. “I’m fine. It’s fine. I just need to find Mo,” he says, shifting on his feet uncomfortably, snapping Jake into action.

“He had an appointment with one of the trainers, I think. I can come with you,” he offers right away, then reconsiders. “If that’s— I mean, it’s nothing dangerous, right?” Willy somehow manages to grin, even though he still looks mostly annoyed. 

“I’m not gonna explode if you touch me or anything like that,” he says, lightly rubbing his temples. 

“No electro shocks either?” Mitch asks and Zach gives him a reproachful look, but Willy actually laughs at that.

“Sadly, no,” he admits and then he grimaces again, so Jake gently touches his shoulder and starts steering him towards towards the offices of the medical staff.

“Do you maybe also wanna see a trainer as well? You don’t look so good,” he asks when Willy keeps touching his temples, but he waves him off.

“Nah, I’m fine. Just need an inhibitor. I forgot what it’s like.” That’s apparently all he’s willing to offer and Jake doesn’t really feel like he should ask for more. 

Jake isn’t sure which trainer Mo is currently seeing, but before he can start knocking on different doors, Mo suddenly comes out of a door just to his right and nearly runs into Willy, grabbing his arm to steady him. “Oh shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t—” he starts, but then his gaze drops down to Willy’s hand and he grabs Willy’s shoulder, trying to look into his eyes. “Are you okay? Where’s your inhibitor?” he asks, sounding slightly panicked, but Willy just shakes his head.

“I’m fine. I lost it and I just need to get a new one before it gets too bad,” he says, probably trying to reassure Mo, but ruining the effect when he winces again. Mo just looks even more worried.

“I was gonna take him home, because he doesn’t look like he can drive right now,” Jake says helpfully, but Mo just shoots him a quick, nervous glance before turning back to Willy. 

“Come on, I have an extra one in my locker,” he says, gently taking Willy’s arm and tugging him into the direction of their locker room. Jake is too bewildered to even process what’s going on properly, so he just follows them.

He’s not even sure which part surprises him more, the fact that Mo apparently knows all about Willy’s mystery talent, or that he keeps inhibitors on hand for situations like this. Mostly it’s probably that Mo hasn’t told him any of it, because Jake knows Mo is close to all the rookies, but they’re usually a team. Usually they—

“Can you two stop?” Willy says, obviously irritated, then adds, “You’re giving me a headache,” like that makes any more sense. Jake looks at Mo with a puzzled look, but Mo is staring at the floor in front of his feet and is slowly turning red. It’s not the kind of blush he sometimes gets when Jake teases him, it’s more like he’s really embarrassed about something and Jake feels guilty, even if he isn’t completely sure it’s his fault.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Willy complains and then speeds up, his steps echoing through the otherwise empty corridor loudly. Jake and Mo can barely keep up. 

As soon as they’re in the locker room, Mo rushes over to his locker and takes a simple looking black band out of a box stored on the top. He hands it to Willy who slips it on and then sighs gratefully, touching his temples again.

“Thanks, that’s much better,” he says, smiling up at Mo, but Mo doesn’t return it.

“Didn’t you practice taking it off at all? I told you it’s gonna be bad, if you keep always keep it on otherwise. What if something happens and you lose it in the middle of a game?” Mo sounds more exasperated than mad, so Jake isn’t surprised when Willy just pats him on the shoulder.

“Well, that’s what I have you for, don’t I?” he just says with another smile and when Mo sighs, adds, “Fine, I’m gonna practice when I’m home. Happy, dad?” He grins up at Mo and Mo can’t quite suppress his answering smile this time.

“Get outta here,” he says affectionately and Willy gives him a little wave before turning around and heading out. He stops at the door though and turns to them once more.

“You two should really figure your shit out though, because all that guilt and uncertainty was making me nauseous,” he advises and then he’s gone, leaving Mo and Jake to pointedly not look at each other. 

After a beat, Jake plucks up some courage. “So, how come you’re the only one who knows about Willy’s talent?” He takes a deep breath. “And how come you never told me you had one too?” He hadn’t been completely sure, but Mo’s reaction destroys the last of his doubts. His eyes widen and he sputters and almost stumbles backwards and into his locker. Jake reaches out a hand to catch him, but it’s not necessary. 

“How did you figure it out?” Mo asks, sounding dejected and kind of scared and that wasn’t what Jake wanted.

“You’re kinda sensitive about the whole talent thing, in case you haven't noticed,” he says, trying to lighten the mood, but Mo doesn’t look relieved or anything. “Not that you have to tell about yours, of course,” Jake reassures him. “I get that that’s kind of a big deal.” Even though he means it, he can’t help the pang of disappointment that shoots up when he thinks about Mo not trusting him with something that’s inherent to who he is.

Mo just sighs. “I’m sorry I never told you,” he starts. “It’s just that I was the only one on the team and then we were living together and it’s really just—” He breaks off and Jake can see him starting to turn red again. “It’s just really dumb, okay?” he finishes, sounding embarrassed.

Jake doesn’t really get how any magical power could possibly be dumb, because in his book even something small like being able to predict rain ten minutes in advance, or having a talent for picking out perfectly ripe avocados would be pretty cool. “It’s fine, you don’t have to tell me,” he says again, but Mo shakes his head.

“No, I should— I’m gonna show you,” he says and before Jake can protest that that’s really not necessary, Mo’s already walking past him and towards an exit, so Jake just follows him. 

————— 

They drive with only the radio breaking the silence, but Jake can still tell how nervous Mo is.

“Hey, it’s fine,” he says. “You really don’t have to show me.” Mo lets out a deep breath, but manages a weak smile.

“I know, but I think— I want to,” he says, sounding sincere, and Jake feels his heart flutter a bit. They don’t say anything afterwards, but the silence is much more comfortable now.

Mo’s nerves seem to return as soon as they get inside his apartment, because he doesn’t even remember to tell Jake to take his shoes off. Jake does it anyway and follows Mo through the living room and out onto his balcony.

Even though it’s almost December already and the temperatures are dropping with each passing day, there’s a row of neatly kept and inhabited flower pots on Mo’s balcony. More than that, there’s a plant that Jake recognizes as a tomato vine, because it’s still carrying large, full, red fruit. Jake blinks.

“Okay, just don’t laugh at me, yeah?” Mo asks, just as nervous as he had been in the car. Jake is about to agree that he would never when Mo turns to one of the pots containing what Jake assumes are roses. The thorny stems are pretty unmistakable, even when the deep red blossoms are closed.

Before Jake can ask what’s going on Mo starts talking. To the roses. 

“Hey, buddy. Come on, wake up for me. I need you to show off, can you do that for me?” he says in a low, soothing tone and Jake has no idea what’s going on. Then, the flower slowly starts to unfurl, delicate little petals spreading out in layers to finally present a whole bush of full, lovely rose blossoms.

Jake just keeps staring at the flower, completely speechless. Mo shuffles nervously from one foot to the other, just looking at Jake and waiting for his reaction. When Jake finally finds his voice again all the can say is, “You can talk to flowers?” It comes out kind of strangled and Mo blushes and shifts again.

“Yeah, I told you it was pretty lame,” he says, sheepishly and then Jake finally turns to him. 

“Are you kidding me? You can talk to flowers! Can you make them grow and stuff as well?” Jake asks excitedly and Mo finally seems to relax again.

“Yeah, that’s mostly what I do. I usually only ask them to bloom when my mom’s coming to town or something. I ask the tomatoes to give me fruit sometimes and that works pretty well.” He’s smiling now and Jake is glad, because this is probably one of the coolest things that ever happened to him. Except the whole professional hockey thing obviously.

“Is it the same for all flowers? I mean, do you say the same stuff to them?” Jake asks and Mo shakes his head, before he pulls Jake over so he can take a closer look at the flowers.

“No, it’s really different actually,” he starts, “most of the vegetable here just wanna do a good job, so you just have to tell them what you need.” He pulls Jake over to another pot. “The herbs over here are a bit more picky, they wanna know you’re making an effort, so I mostly just ask them if they need anything.” He walks over to the next pot and Jake follows.

“The succulents are a bit special, because they don’t really belong in this climate so they get a bit homesick sometimes,” Mo looks down at the collection of small, kind of spongy plants with a somewhat apologetic look on his face. “I usually just tell them about the places I’ve been and what it’s like there and then they’re fine,” he says, like there’s nothing strange about having to cheer up your balcony decorations. 

Mo doesn’t seem to notice, just turns to his roses and says, “I have to be more careful with these, because they’re kind of vain. They mostly do well when I tell them how pretty they already are while they’re still growing.”

Jake can’t help the laugh that slips out of his mouth. “Oh wow, this is the most _you_ talent you could possibly have,” he gets out, still laughing, and the uncertain expression on Mo’s face morphs into a grin. “I mean, you just always have to take care of something, don’t you? Figure out what they need,” he adds and Mo bursts out laughing as well.

Once they’ve both gotten some composure back, Jake lets his gaze drift over the collection of flower pots again. “So how do you decide which flowers you wanna grow?” Jake asks and Mo shrugs. 

“I mean, the herbs and vegetables are pretty useful, so that was an easy decision. Otherwise, I’m not here that much so mostly I just pick the ones that’ll be okay without me for a bit,” he explains and Jake raises and eyebrow.

“The roses are okay on their own? I thought they needed attention,” he says and Mo shuffles nervously again.

“They’re kind of an exception,” Mo admits, not quite looking at Jake. “I figured it can’t hurt to have some roses handy, you know.” Jake suddenly feels cold again, but tries to overplay it with a laugh. It sounds strained, even to his own ears.

“Beauty move,” Jake tries, but it comes out sounding more croaky than a chirp should usually be. Mo is blushing again and so Jake tries not to look at him. “I mean, you gotta be prepared when you meet that special someone, right?” It still doesn’t sound convincing and from the corner of his eye Jake can see Mo freeze. 

“What if— What if I already met my special someone?” Mo asks, sounding hesitant and Jake has to close his eyes for a moment before he can manage a wavery smile.

“That’s great, Mo. I’m really— I’m happy for you. When—” he starts, a list of half-truth that he knows he’s supposed to say, but Mo interrupts him.

“Jake, would you like to have one of my roses?” he asks and Jake gapes at him.

“I— what?” he gets out, still completely stunned. Mo smiles at him, a small and hopeful thing.

“Isn’t that how you tell someone you like them?” he teases and Jake feels like there’s a huge weight lifted off his shoulders.

“You watch too much bad TV,” he tells Mo with a smile and Mo grins back at him and because Jake thinks he allowed to now, he takes a step closer to Mo, and gently touches his face. He can feel Mo’s breath catch when he leans in closer, but he hesitates.

“I’m reading this right, yeah? I mean, you really—” he starts, but Mo just rolls his eyes.

“Do I seriously have to do everything here?” he says and before Jake can respond to that Mo pulls him into a kiss.

The End

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed your soft Leafs dads and their rookies with a bit of added magic! 
> 
> Apologies for the vague flower descriptions, but Jake doesn't know anything about them and it's his pov ;)
> 
> You can always find me on my [writing Tumblr](https://vidrianawrites.tumblr.com/)!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [Raise, Grow & Repair](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14220762) by [caixa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/caixa/pseuds/caixa)




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